Rehoboth Avenue paving now set to be finished in the spring

The completion of the Rehoboth Avenue paving project, already plagued by delays, has now been pushed to the spring months.

The Delaware Department of Transportation announced the latest delay in a Dec. 6 notice. In coordination with the city, DelDOT is pausing the work because of cold weather and will resume in early spring when temperatures rise, said the notice.

The city announced earlier in the week, Dec. 2, that paving wasn’t taking place this week because of cold temperatures.

That decision was made in collaboration with city officials, said Brittany Klecan, DelDOT spokesperson. “Daytime temperatures are now not conducive for the paving operation,” she said in an email following the announcement.

“All equipment will be removed, and the contractor is in agreement to the time stop so they will not be requesting a remobilization payment,” said Klecan.

Lynne Coan, city spokesperson, said the city was informed a day or two ago that A-Del, the contractor doing the work, was recommending, and DelDOT would likely approve, that the Rehoboth Avenue project be paused until the spring.

“The city is disappointed that the project is unable to be completed this fall, but we’d prefer to have a high-quality finished product and believe that this delay is the best way to achieve that,” said Coan in an email Dec. 6.

Paving is completed from the bandstand to Second Street, said Coan. Where it is missing, temporary striping will be completed next week, she said. 

The city’s paving projects on Maryland Avenue, First Street and Scarborough Avenue Ext. have not been affected by the cold temperatures, as they are not as complex as the Rehoboth Avenue project, said Coan.

For a number of reasons, this is the fifth time this project has been delayed. It was originally slated for last fall, but got delayed to this fall. As this fall neared, the city announced the work would begin Sept. 15. Then it got pushed to the beginning of October while the contractor finished up a project on Shuttle Road outside Rehoboth. The day before the paving portion of the project was slated to begin, the city announced DelDOT was postponing it to the coming spring season or possibly fall because of budget issues. A couple of weeks later, DelDOT announced the project was back on and would begin shortly after the conclusion of Sea Witch Festival.

Nighttime work on the project finally began Nov. 5. However, a couple of weeks after that, during a Nov. 15 commissioner meeting, City Manager Taylour Tedder announced work would be moving to daytime hours because temperatures were too cold at night. Also, he said, some of the paving on the ocean block that was completed at night had to be redone because the temperatures were too cold for the hot mix to properly set and adhere to the surface.

In addition to paving-related issues, the project has seen concerns raised on other issues.

There were unmarked handicap-accessible ramps installed on the north side of the second block that local businesses complained made pedestrian access dangerous. As a result, the city installed temporary fencing around those ramps.